SpiderMan 3
by J. Caputo
Summary: The dark story of SpiderMan 3 the way it should have gone instead of the screwup they call the SpiderMan 3 movie.


**Prologue**

It was cold out there. But it was the kind of cold that didn't just bite at your skin. This coldness encompassed everything. It sank through the skin and into your very bones, threatening to eat away everything if you were exposed to it too long. In the end, you would be nothing but the shadow of the person you once were. It was in the darkness that accompanied it. It was desolate and lonely, and so very cold. It was the perfect setting for a monster, like something out of a horror story. It was like a monster that would threaten to take away your very soul and to burn your mind, leaving nothing but aggression and hatred in the wake of its ravaging.

So it was fitting that a monster should lay there in wait for its prey. Having seen many worlds, this homeless creature decided to settle on a planet that would later be destroyed, sending many thousands of pieces of rock and dust hurtling into space. This monster would ride through the cosmos at nearly the speed of light embedded in a piece of its destroyed world. Here, it would feel loneliness like no other creature in the whole of the universe at would indeed experience the vast, chilling coldness. It would eventually land upon a small orb of sand and rock, where it would wait for another, more compatible being to come and free it from its cold, dark prison. Little did it know, it would not have to wait long.

The engines ceased whining and cooled down as the small, three-man explorer touched down on the surface of the Moon. The cockpit opened slowly and a team of three astronauts stepped down from the compartment onto the surface. John Jameson looked around him at the desolate rocky surface that surrounded him. His crew almost immediately began unpacking various pieces of equipment for acquiring and measuring samples of rock.

_It's awful lonely out here_, thought Jameson. He had been having these thoughts since he watched the Earth grow smaller and smaller in the distance. It was the first time had ever been away from home. He looked to his left and saw the Earth rising just above the horizon. He suddenly became very eager to finish the mission and collect those samples. He didn't have a very good feeling about being alone on another world.

"Hey Jameson! You coming?" Jameson turned at the sound of his name to regard one of his crew. He was already packed and ready to go.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Jameson replied, "Let's get this over with. The sooner the better." He picked up his equipment and the small team of scientists started out on their mission with Jameson leading the way. They covered many miles in a short amount of time, bouncing from stride to stride due to the reduced gravity of the Moon.

The mission from NASA was a simple one. They were to visit different areas of the moon, collecting various samples of the rocks and dirt from the surface and craters. The data they brought back to Earth with them was to be used in a new experimental study designed to test whether the moon has had any recent geological activity. It was a new branch of geology that worked together with astronomy to explore other worlds and scout their geological history in order to learn more about Earth's history.

Jameson had heard about this new study and had been one of the first to sign. He was excited about the new science and saw great potential in supporting the study. Having had a great previous reputation with NASA, he was almost immediately accepted into the program along with two others. It was explained to him that although the study would begin with the moon, it was something that would eventually encompass many other worlds. Jameson's excitement mounted as the years closed to weeks. He thought that he would finally be able to prove his worth to astronomy and to all those people involved in the new study. It had been a very exciting time for him and the launch proved no different.

It had taken several days to reach the Moon thanks to the new ion propulsion system NASA attached to their ship. It made the trip go that much faster, for which Jameson was now thankful. He kept telling himself in the back of his mind that it would only be a few days to get back to Earth.

Over several hours, the team scoured the surface and craters, collecting various samplings of rock from the ground. The samples were of various shapes, sizes, and densities, and showed to be made of more elements than Jameson had expected. He was thinking of the praise they'd get when they returned home when one of his crew called his name and got his attention.

"Go ahead," Jameson said into his communicator.

"Jameson, we found something here. It's quite interesting."

"Okay, I'm coming to you." Jameson gathered his equipment and looked at the GPS on his wrist. It was capable of giving out his crewmen's positions accurate to one inch. His crewman's icon was showing about thirty paces to the North, which happened to be the next crater. Jameson made it there in no time. When he got there, his partner was pointing to a tiny rock near the center of the crater. The rock was small and had a certain shine to it. To Jameson, it seemed very much like Onyx. He related his opinion to his partner.

"Impossible," his partner said, shaking his head. "It just couldn't be. Onyx is too brittle. If it smashed into the Moon at the speed with which to form this crater, it would have disintegrated."

"Well, maybe it didn't cause the crater. Maybe it just landed here."

"Possibly. Let's pick it up and have it analyzed." With that, Jameson scooped up the rock and placed it into a container.

"That's funny," Jameson said. "I thought I just saw something on the rock move." He raised the container to his eyes. He peered at the rock, but it was still. It was just a black rock.

His partner stared at him. "I think we may have been out here long enough," he said.

"I think you're right. Let's wrap it up." Jameson relayed the message to his other partner and told him to meet at the ship. Once at the ship, they loaded all the equipment into the cargo bay and boarded the ship. After quickly cross-referencing their data with one another, they set off back toward their home. Jameson looked out his window and saw the moon getting smaller with each meter they passed. However, Jameson now only felt relief. He couldn't shake his nervousness on the Moon. Now, all that tension was slipping away as the ship moved farther and farther away from the Moon. It was a long three-day flight back to Earth. When the ship was within adequate distance, the crew made contact with the NASA base.

In the cargo compartment a black shape stirred from the sample containers. It oozed from its container and stalked along the floor and walls, keeping to the shadows where it would remain safe. It scanned the floor and walls, feeling for a way out, looking for a way to work that which nature had programmed it to work. It found a way to seep through the cracks and follow the voices it heard coming from a compartment ahead. Propelled by thoughts of rage and a yearning for a host, the black monster spread itself along the floors and searched for the sources of the voices.

It slithered its way into the cockpit and found what it was looking for. Positioning itself so that it would remain in the shadows, the creature slithered up to one of the other organisms and attached itself to the organism's feet. It slowly began its ascent up the host's leg. Soon, it knew it would achieve its true purpose.

Jameson, having successfully been granted permission to land the shuttle, was about to prepare for the approach to Earth when he felt something like a sticky weight on his leg. He looked down to see a black ooze covering the floor and slowly working its way up his legs. Jameson screamed for help, but upon looking to his crewmen, found that they too were being covered, and that their mouths were being held shut by the same black ooze. In a panic, Jameson tried to rip the ooze off of his legs and accidentally hit the acceleration lever, sending the ship careening, off course, toward Earth.

John Jameson frantically fought to stop this thing from covering him completely, but found that every time he tried to remove the thing, it would only attach itself even more quickly to his legs and hands. It was a losing battle. The ooze slinked up his legs and torso and covered his arms. His heart raced and his breaths came more quickly. He could feel himself going into shock. He tried with every bit of strength he had to stay calm and to fight this monster.

A light on the information panel told Jameson that he would be reaching Earth's atmosphere soon. He managed to get a glimpse of the trajectory and his eyes widened with horror. He realized his ship was way off course. The screen told him his destination was New York City! Jameson redoubled his efforts to get the monstrosity off him, but it was no use. The thing held him down. He was unable to move!

As the ship made first contact with the atmosphere, the hull began to glow a deep red. The glow soon turned into a spark and a flame as the ship punched through the outer atmosphere. The flame quickly subsided as the ship broke through the clouds. A rumble was sent through the ship from the friction with the surrounding atmosphere. Jameson felt the ooze getting weaker. He felt that he could now break the alien's hold over him and move to control the ship.

_I'll only get one chance at this_, he thought as he grabbed the controls. The alien released his arms and upper torso and was slowly moving back down his legs toward the floor. As New York City came ever closer, Jameson guided the ship away from the lit up streets and toward the black night waters of the harbor. As the ship slowed the rumbling subsided, and once again he felt the alien getting stronger.

_Not this time_, Jameson thought. The surface of the water rushed up at them and the ship smashed into the harbor, sending gigantic waves of water upward into the air. The ship's hull was breached and water rushed in, threatening to sink the ship and the monster along with it. John Jameson was knocked from his seat with the sheer force of the impact and hit his head on one of the panels in the cockpit. He felt the cold of the harbor water, but only briefly. Soon he lost all sensation. He tried to look for his crew but gave up, feeling intense pain rack his body. The last thing he saw before darkness took him into oblivion was a blurry vision of a man swinging with ropes in his hands from the nearby Washington Bridge towards the fallen ship.


End file.
